The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Hydrangea plant botanically known as Hydrangea macrophylla and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name ‘Tomeina-blue’.
The new cultivar originated in a controlled breeding program in Kakegawa, Japan during June 2008. The objective of the breeding program was the development of Hydrangea cultivars that have double-type, blue-colored inflorescences when grown under acidic soil conditions.
The new Hydrangea cultivar is the result of cross-pollination. The female (seed) parent of the new cultivar is ‘Morino-izumi’, not patented, characterized by its single-type, pink-colored inflorescences that are light blue-colored when grown under acidic soil conditions, dark green-colored foliage, and vigorous, upright growth habit. The male (pollen) parent of the new cultivar is a proprietary Hydrangea macrophylla breeding selection coded 03-10A, not patented, characterized by is double-type, pink-colored inflorescences having white-colored margins that are purple-colored with white-colored margins when grown under acidic soil conditions, dark green-colored foliage, and moderately vigorous, upright growth habit. The new cultivar was discovered and selected as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the above stated cross-pollination during July 2010 in a controlled environment in Kakegawa, Japan.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal stem cuttings since July 2010 in Kakegawa, Japan has demonstrated that the new cultivar reproduces true to type with all of the characteristics, as herein described, firmly fixed and retained through successive generations of such asexual propagation.